Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Exumer - Fire & Damnation

"Fire & Damnation" marks the third release for veteran
thrashers Exumer, and their first release since 1987. Of course, Exumer are
just one of countless bands that have reunited over the past decade or so, and
given the quality of some recent releases from other bands, it’s not unfair to
be skeptical of this. Despite being a bit late to the game, Exumer’s comeback
album is actually one of the stronger ones. Thrash has not been replaced by
groove or overtly melodic passages. Instead, "Fire & Damnation" is 33 minutes
of non-stop riffs.

Before even discussing the songs, the most noticeable part
of this album is the quality of production. Given the improvement in technology
since the 80’s, you would expect every band to have an insane guitar crunch,
but it seems like only Exodus really managed to pull that off. Luckily, Exumer
have put together an unbelievable guitar tone that rivals the new Exodus sound.
This is complimented by the fantastic drum tone. The snare is high-pitched, but
doesn’t suffer from the tinny sound that brutal death metal bands love. On top
of this, original singer Mem Von Stein is back, and he sounds fantastic. His
vocals aren’t extremely harsh, but they are still pretty heavy. The closest
comparison is probably Mille Petrozza’s vocals on Hordes of Chaos.

The album kicks off with the title track, which sets the
tone for the entire album. “Vermin of the Sky” is really not that different,
but is another headbanging tune. As you might imagine, the rest of the album
isn’t really any different. Despite this, the first half of the record is a lot
stronger; the songs are more memorable and the riffing isn’t quite as generic.
Unfortunately, some of the songs on the second half are a little too
predictable. Luckily, however, this half of the album also has two of the more
interesting songs, which are the re-recorded tracks “Fallen Saint” and “I Dare
You”. Former vocalist Paul Arakari does vocals on “Fallen Saint” and, while not
as good as Mem, he still does a decent job. Meanwhile, Mem completely destroys
on “I Dare You”. This track really surprised me, as I hadn’t heard the
original. The chorus is made to sing along to, and the tremolo picked riffing
is perfect.

Simply put, Exumer know how to thrash. This album is
somewhat of a modern version of Possessed by Fire, and that’s fine by me. I
won’t drag out this review any further, because if you liked Exumer before,
you’ll like them now.